Real Madrid have moved to tie Cristiano Ronaldo to the club until the end of the 2017-18 season by agreeing a three-year contract extension with the prolific Portugal forward. The announcement of the deal on Sunday ended speculation about a possible return to Manchester United in 2015 when his previous deal expired. Big-spending Real president Florentino Perez and the 28-year-old Ronaldo signed the new contract at the club’s Bernabeu stadium.

Neither Ronaldo, who said 2018 could mark the end of his career, nor Perez provided details about his salary, but Spanish media reported that his net annual wage would rise to 17 million euros, making him one of the world’s best-paid players.

“Everyone knows I was in Manchester for six years and it was a club that give me many, many things and I don’t forget that,” Ronaldo told reporters. “But Manchester, it’s the past. Now my club in the present is Real Madrid, this is my home, my family it’s here and I am really happy here.”

Quizzed by a reporter about his salary, Ronaldo said being the best-paid player in soccer was not his main motivation.

“In life there are more important things than money. Yes money is important, I am not going to lie, but it was not the priority,” he added.

“The priority was a project with future, to win titles. I feel integrated in this project and the money was not the problem.